Weddingbee Blog

I would like to say that the rehearsal made everything about our wedding feel near and real. But in reality, the rehearsal was probably one of my least favorite moments during the entire wedding weekend. I had decided to just go with the flow and try to enjoy the weekend as soon as our guests arrived, but I couldn’t because of the people around me.

You know how energy radiates and laughter is contagious? Well, for me, it was other people’s unnecessary stress and negative energy that penetrated my let-it-go mentality. Just as positive energy is infectious, so is negative energy. In fact, it only takes one negative person to really alter your state of being.

We had two rehearsals back-to-back. Luckily, I only had to run one of them. Brenda Swann ran our civil ceremony rehearsal. Sadly, to my knowledge, no pictures exist of the women. No picture of my practice walk or anything. Oh well.

Notes to future couples: Assign someone, maybe a significant other of someone in the wedding party, to take photos for you during the rehearsal.

Brenda had us go through everything twice. Everyone felt comfortable and it was done. Looking back on pictures, I noticed how uniform all the groomsmen looked. I attribute this uniformity to the fact that Brenda specifically asked the Wingmen how they would put their hands. She let the best man pick his favorite, and the others followed suit. I thought it looked great in the photos. You’ll have to wait to see those photos. Here’s what they looked like before she asked them to be uniform.

Wait what? Someone handed a wingman a beer already? You learn so much from looking back at photos.

As we were going through the civil ceremony, aunts, uncles, and cousins started arriving for the tea ceremony rehearsal. First off, there were too many people in one space. There was a lot of competing noise. There was family catching up and having a good time, ocean waves minding their own business doing what they do, and oh, you know, a wedding rehearsal going on.

Note to future couples: If you decide to have people arrive during the ceremony rehearsal for the rehearsal dinner or a 2nd rehearsal as we did, give them a designated spot to be before they arrive. I would suggest a location away from the actual rehearsal that includes chairs and shade. The less confusion, the better.

Unfortunately for Mr Hot Wings’ family, my family arrived first and took all the seats in the shade. First come first served, I guess.

Next came the Tea Ceremony Rehearsal. Again, I apologize for being a bad blogger and not having any photos. Here’s the rundown. Brenda had left at this point. So, I had to run this rehearsal solo. What’s worse, I was the only one that had any idea what was going to happen.

For me, it was most frustrating because one person kept saying over and over again, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” Well, that’s what a rehearsal is for. If you would kindly go to the spot I asked you to go to, we could get started, and I could tell everyone what they will be doing.

Note to rehearsal attendees: Please pay attention and do as you’re asked. Your stress is contagious and neither the bride nor the groom wants to catch what you’re carrying.

Yes, we even practiced some of our ceremony decor. Crystal chandeliers were at the front and we hung chiffon off of the balcony. Just don’t forget to take down the white chiffon or else you’ll end up doing what we did….tearing it off in a haste and stashing it on a chair on the balcony. Not smart! We left it there all night and it was wet and dirty by morning time. All that schooling…what a shame, huh?

* all personal photos from friends and family*

All this rehearsing sure makes you hungry. Next up, Mexican street tacos and a margarita machine!

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